The present invention is directed toward a display holder for holding and displaying sheets of paper or similar material and more specifically, toward a display holder which includes an erasable overlay for annotating the material being displayed and a method for using this display holder.
Graphs, charts and other displays are frequently used during informational presentations to explain or emphasize important points. These displays may consist of drawings on a chalkboard, images projected on a screen, or drawings on a large pad of paper supported by an easel. All of these traditional display methods have drawbacks, especially for presenting information to a small group of people where the need to draw figures and change slides can distract from the content of the presentation. Slides and transparencies also require special preparation in that a projector and a screen must be obtained and set up before a meeting, and:the information to be displayed must be embodied in a slide or transparency. Chalkboards are bulky and drawings on easels cannot be readily modified. These displays are best suited to classrooms where a large number of people are present and/or where the same information must be presented over and over to different groups of people.
Displays for use with small groups of people are often printed on relatively small sheets of paper, such as 8xc2xd inches by 11 inches or 11 inches by 17 inches. The increased use of computers having sophisticated graphics capabilities, and the availability of low cost color printers, make it easier for individuals to prepare these paper displays. This gives the person preparing the information greater control over its format and allows for rapid and accurate changes. Displays prepared in this manner can be difficult to exhibit, however, because the paper on which they are printed is not rigid. These paper displays must be taped to a wall or tacked to a board or alternately, passed around for individuals to examine. These presentation methods can damage the displays and distract from the presentation itself. Furthermore, it is often desirable to modify a display during a presentation to emphasize key points or to show how new factors could change an analysis. This is easy to do on a chalkboard but cannot be done on sheets of paper without permanently altering the display.
To overcome these problems, small display boards or frames have been used to hold and display pieces of paper. These devices may also include an erasable overlay for allowing a user to annotate a display without damaging it. While these prior art devices solve some of the aforementioned problems, they are not ideal and often create additional problems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,119 to Baryla relies on an electrostatic charge to hold a piece of paper against a board and to hold a thin plastic film over the paper. However, this arrangement will not work well with certain materials such as cardboard or photographs which may not be strongly attracted by the electrostatic charge. In addition, the charge can make multiple papers stick together or stick to the plastic cover. This can make it difficult to switch the papers being displayed. Other displays, such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,581 to Polzin, comprise a pocket having a clear front window into which documents can be inserted. However, it can be difficult to insert multiple documents using this arrangement without bending their corners or otherwise damaging them. The rapid switching of documents is also very difficult. This display does not lend itself to settings where a number of pieces of information must be displayed in quick succession. It is also difficult to open these prior displays, remove one paper, insert another and close the display unless the display is laid on a flat surface. This makes it difficult for a speaker standing before an audience to quickly change to a new figure. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a display board that is lightweight, easy to use, capable of displaying paper, photographs and other materials, and which allows for the erasable annotation of the material being displayed.
It is also often desirable to display information on a fabric covered wall, such as the wall of an office cubicle, or on a fabric covered pin board or similar fabric covered surface. This is usually accomplished by using pins or thumb tacks. However, pins and tacks make holes in the document being displayed. When the document is frequently removed and reattached to the wall, the large number of holes made by the pins can weaken the corners of the document and make it unsightly. Additionally, if the document is pulled off of the wall without first removing the pins, the corners of the document will be ripped. Documents can also be taped to walls, but this too can damage the documents. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a display holder that can be used to display a document on a fabric covered wall that will not damage the document, and which holder can also be used in conjunction with the display holder described above.
The present invention solves these and other problems by providing a cover that can be placed over a document to secure it to a lightweight board or to a suitable wall while allowing the information thereon to be seen. The cover may comprise a frame which is open in the middle to leave the displayed document exposed, or it may cover the entire sheet but have a transparent central portion which can be written upon with an erasable marker to annotate the display. In one embodiment, the invention uses hook and loop fastening material, such as Velcro brand, to secure the frame or cover to a board or fabric covered surface. This material allows the cover to be quickly and easily secured to and removed from the board or surface to hold one or more pieces of paper or other material between the cover and the surface. Other embodiments use magnets on the cover or low tack adhesive material on the board to secure the cover to the board.
Hook and loop fasteners will not damage documents the way that glue or tacks can, and in addition, the hook and loop fasteners are raised with respect to the supporting board to define a placement area for the material to be displayed. The hook and loop fasteners prevent the paper or other material from sliding relative to the board while the display is assembled. The fasteners therefore allow the board to be held at an angle or in a vertical orientation before the cover is attached. Thus, the unit can be opened and closed easily without first laying it on a horizontal surface as was often necessary with prior art displays. In addition, the display holder can be constructed so that each pair of fasteners can be engaged or disengaged independently of the other pairs. This allows one pair to be disengaged to form an opening to allow documents to be inserted or removed from the holder without disassembling the entire display. When the cover is made from a flexible material, this arrangement also allows all but one of the fastener pairs to be disengaged so that the cover can be folded out of the way about the remaining fastener pair to allow a paper or papers to be inserted. A two-sided display can also be made by providing fasteners on both sides of a board and using two separate covers. Alternately, a board may be provided with a brace to make it freestanding or a hook to allow it to be mounted on a wall. The board is also rigid and durable and can be passed from person to person during a presentation when this is desired. Alternately, the same cover can be attached directly to a fabric covered wall, such as in a cubicle, and used as a presentation frame to display items in a more permanent manner.
In a second embodiment, fasteners are disposed about the cover on only three sides which leaves an opening between the cover and board or surface along one side of the cover, preferably the top. This allows rigid material such as paperboard or photographs to be inserted and removed through the opening without removing the cover from the board or wall when this is desired. The cover can also be separated from the board or wall as in the first embodiment when the materials being displayed might be damaged by insertion through an opening or when multiple sheets of material are contained in the holder.
In a third embodiment, loop type fasteners are provided on both the front and rear surfaces of the board and two covers are used to provide a two-sided display.
In a fourth embodiment, the hook and loop fasteners are replaced with magnets or a magnet and a ferromagnetic material. Importantly, the magnetic or ferromagnetic material on the underlying board is raised with respect to the board and serves to prevent a paper from sliding off of the board in the same manner as the raised hook and loop fasteners. The magnets may be present on three or four sides of the cover as described above with respect to the hook and loop fasteners.
In a fifth embodiment, the fasteners comprise raised members on a board, such as sections of a foam-like material, having a low tack adhesive on their upper surfaces for engaging the cover. As used herein, a xe2x80x9clow tackxe2x80x9d adhesive is one that is easily removable from many surfaces such as the adhesive found on the back of removable notes. The foam is raised with respect to the board and so serves to retain a paper as described above. This adhesive removably holds the cover in place and the invention functions as described above.
The cover of the first or second embodiment can also be used without the underlying board to secure a document to a fabric covered wall such as the wall of an office cubicle or a fabric pin board. In this manner, many of the advantages described with respect to the display holder above can be realized on any fabric covered surface. The cover preferentially includes three sections of fastening material, one on each of the bottom, left and right sides leaving the top open for the insertion of documents. Fastening material can also be provided along the top edge for greater security. The cover of the fourth embodiment can be used in the same manner to hold documents to a ferromagnetic surface such as the surface of certain chalk boards.
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a holder for displaying paper or similar materials.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a display holder which includes an erasable overlay for annotating information being displayed without altering the original information.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a display holder which includes elements to help align the material in the holder.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of using a display holder to secure a document in a fixed relationship to a wall.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method of positioning a document and display holder on a wall.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a display holder for protecting the documents being displayed from physical damage.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a display holder having an erasable overlay which can be partially detached from a support surface to allow documents to be inserted into or removed from behind the cover.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a display holder for mounting a document on a fabric covered surface.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a display holder which can be opened and closed while being held by a user without first laying the display on a horizontal surface.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a display holder that can be used as a frame for mounting documents on a ferromagnetic surface.